Lecture 2

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Lecture 2 (June 29, 2009)

Timeline

1945

  • Yalta Conference: Roosevelt dies and had not kept Truman informed on foreign policies, Americans are improved in faith of country and economy but peace lessons not learned, they will now join the united nations and form a security council.
  • World War II ends in Europe Germany Surrenders
  • Manhattan project reveled
  • Potsdam Conference - Truman - Stalin and British (Churchill, Clement Attlee) divide up Europe.
    • control defeated territories
    • set up Post war boarders
    • win war against Japan, pacific war
    • secure lasting peace for Europe Foreign Ministers council est. Prepare Germany political rejoin democratically and reparations
  • U.S. drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima / Stalin enters war / 2nd A-Bomb dropped on N / Emperor surrenders Japan
  • Bretton woods plan was in the works while Roosevelt was prez but wasn't ratified till 45-46. This plan believed that was could be avoided if economical disparities amongst countries where lessened. Original goal was to help rebuild postwar economies by stabilizing currencies and info structure loans to war-torn countries. This was to be realized though IMF and Int'l bank for reconstruction and development. It established the rules and regulations for commercial and financial relations among world industrialized states. Stalin joined something but not IMF?
  • Stalin had broken most of his agreements with the Allies. Infuriated Truman by lack of free-elections in Poland. Stalin used Eastern European countries as protection.

1946

  • USA doesn't plan to start stock piling A bombs and wants to begin disarmament
  • Stalin makes speech communism and capitalism and is building up weapons and amassing tanks
  • Bolsheviks start to pressure communism outside their boarders
  • Churchill Iron curtain speech views start to wonder if this is the warning sign to take action Iran,
  • Turkey, Greece crisis USA/Brt ask Stalin to remove troops in Iran
  • Henry Wallace big mouth states it is not a good idea to play hardball with Stalin and is asked to resign but now the public has something new to think about. He was Roosevelt VP he did try running against Truman but lost huge!
  • Stalin is not allowing free elections as promised and doesn't want to release buffer lands

1947

  • Communists seize power in Poland.
  • Containment Truman Doctrine – Two “alternative ways of life” and countries must choose between US and USSR ideologies. US will aid those who want democracy, like Greece and Turkey.
  • Containment was militarily, economically, politically. plan for USA forieng Policy???policy of containment used to prevent the spread of commies through military, economic, and diplomatic aid. Starts with turkey and Greece's civil war
  • Marshall Plan: To give aid to protect against communists the aid needed for Europe had been under estimated and the IMF & IBRD was not enough. It was organized by the USA and gave grants to European countries to rebuild

1948

  • Czechoslovakia taken over by commies
  • Berlin Airlift begins (ends May 19, 1949)

1949

  • North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established by can USA an western European countries against soviet communism
  • Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb
  • Communists win Chinese Civil War. Mao

Suburbia

  • 1950’s U.S. gets bad at suburbia – cities knocked off zoning regulations that separated working, shopping and living – inner cities have NOTHING but houses, nowhere to go unless you drive. Promoted by zoning laws. Motels start sprouting up – people can join you and no one knows (‘undermined the family worse than the pill’, haha)
  • Ramming throughways through neighbourhoods BIG mistake
  • Mass produced housing starts – could buy a “house kit” in 1950’s and assemble yourself.
  • Levittown-William Levit, Americas biggest hosuebuilder – built entire town
  • Team built three houses a day “ticky tacky houses owned by ticky tacky people” – easy payment plans, getting people (i.e.vets) to own their own homes
  • Levit would not sell to blacks because no whites would buy. “no home owner could be a communist, they have too much to do” – mad rule – no backyard fences, kids roamed free
  • Government supported growth of suburbia from roads to subsidies
  • Put poor into large high rises and office buildings into huge glass towers
  • Strange suburbia – life designed by experiences, rather than piecemeal life developed by regular people
  • Left and right become anti-zoning, left doesn’t like because produces artificiality. People become unhappy with way of living – Rock n Roll one form of discontent.
  • “rock n roll” termed by DJ Allen Fried in 1941 – played black music on radio – white kids liked it and it took off. “cross over music”
  • Black blues and white country music meet – so do musicians, so do audiences
  • Music = fundamental to human beings – everyone likes music – if black and whites respond to music in same way, they must not be that different deep down inside – closes gap.
  • People dislike it for this reason – “nigger music” – people freak out about white kids liking it because they know where its going – powerful affect on racial relations
  • Elvis successful because he brought black feel into white music.